Apple Crumble Cake

On these cold, wintery nights you need something warm and comforting. As a child my favourite dessert was Apple crumble. I Still love it and I was instantly intrigued when I came upon this recipe for Apple crumble cake. I found it on the very lovely blog Eat, little bird. As the weather here is frightfully cold and the evenings are miserably dark, this is the perfect time to bake this cake. Shut out the cold air and turn your oven on, this cake will warm you from within. As its baking it perfumes your kitchen with warming spice. The crumb topping is crumbly and moreish. You’ll picking it off before you even get to eating the cake. The apples give a delicate sweetness, which pairs well with the lightly spiced crumb. The crumb has a smooth, dense texture. Not heavy at all.

This cake would make a perfect dessert cake. For a cold winters evening you could serve alongside a glorious covering of custard. This cake would also be perfect to make at the start of autumn when the evenings are still balmy and the apples are freshly fallen from the trees. You could serve this cake with a lovely, large scoop of ice cream. Maybe instead of classic vanilla flavour, you could pair this cake with a nutmeg ice cream or cinnamon perhaps.

I made some changes to the recipe. I replaced half of the caster sugar with dark muscovado sugar as I thought this would give a more warming flavour to the crumb, thanks to the added molasses in the muscovado sugar. I also replaced the milk with more single cream, as I wanted to give the crumb more of a silkier texture. I added cinnamon and nutmeg to the cake as these spices go wonderfully well with apples. I also swapped vanilla extract with vanilla bean paste as I had some that I hadn’t opened yet and I wanted to see what it was like. I reduced the quantity to 1 teaspoon as I was using Vanilla scented sugar instead of plain caster sugar. I swapped the granny smith apples with Bramley apples as these apples are primarily used for baking and they are a classic british apple, as is apple crumble.

Bake this cake all year round. You can eat it with custard, it’s also a great excuse to make some home-made ice cream so that it can be served on a warm evening with a generous slice of this cake, or simply eat it on its own, warm or cold. It’s a great cake that can be eaten many ways. Try them all and see which combination you like best. I’d love to know how you ate it.

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C,160C(Fan),350F. Butter the base and the sides of round 9 inch springform pan. Line the base with parchment paper and butter this too. Set to one side.

2. Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment set to high-speed, cream together the butter, both the sugar’s and the vanilla bean paste until you have a smooth, fluffy, creamy mixture. This should take between 5-8 minutes. Scrape down your bowl with a spatula.

3. Meanwhile in a medium bowl combine the flour, cinnamon and the nutmeg, set to one side.

4. Crack the eggs one at a time into a small bowl (I do this just in case I get a bad egg as I don’t want to ruin my batter) then add the eggs one at a time mixing for 30 seconds before adding the next egg. When all the eggs have been added scrape down your bowl again with your spatula.

5. Add half of the flour and mix until it disappears then add the cream and mix until its been fully incorporated. Add the remaining flour and mix until no trace of the flour is left. Do not overmix.

6. Scrape your batter into your baking tin and smooth the top over. Place the apples on top, arranging them in concentric circles.

7. Next you need to make the crumble topping to be sprinkled on top. To make it, add the sugar, flour, cinnamon and the cubed butter to a medium-sized bowl and using your fingertips, rub the mixture together until you have a crumb like texture. Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the apples.

8. Bake for 1 hour, 20 minutes or until the top is golden and a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

9. Leave the cake to cool on a wire rack in the tin for 20 minutes then remove the side of the tin and leave to cool completely.

Welcome to Baking in Pyjamas!

Hello I'm Laura and welcome to Baking in Pyjamas. I have a slight obsession for all things baking related and this is where I'll be sharing a sweet selection of do-able and scrumptious recipes. I'm still learning so why don't you follow me on my journey.

Contact me at bakinginpyjamas@gmail.com

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